New Delhi,  Termed as a 'great example' of the fusion of modern technology, the 'WHO M-Yoga' app launched by Prime Minister Narendra Modi on the oaccasion of International Day of Yoga on Monday aims to help spread yoga around the world and contribute to the efforts of the 'One World, One Health' motto.

The app will provide many videos of yoga training and practice based on common yoga protocols in different languages. It will help promote yoga and wellness among the people around the world, especially during the ongoing Covid-19 pandemic.

Modi launched the app while addressing the nation on the occasion of the 7th International Day of Yoga, saying the app will play an instrumental role in the rehabilitation of the health of Covid patients who have recovered from the disease.

"When India proposed the International Day of Yoga in the United Nations, the spirit behind it was to make the yoga science accessible to the entire world. Today India has taken another important step in this direction along with the United Nations and the WHO.

"Now the world is going to get the power of the M-Yoga app. In this app, many videos of yoga training will be available in different languages of the world, based on the common yoga protocol. It is also a great example of the fusion of modern technology and ancient science. I am sure the app will play a big role in expanding yoga across the globe, making the efforts of 'One World, One Health' a success," the Prime Minister said.

The Ministry of AYUSH and the World Health Organization (WHO) had jointly undertaken a project in mid-2019, focusing on mobile yoga. It envisaged the concept of 'Be Healthy, Be Mobile' (BHBM) under the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals to achieve Universal Health Coverage by 2030.

The BHBM initiative is a global partnership led by the WHO, which supports the scale up of mobile health (m-Health) technology within the scope of the national health system to combat non-communicable diseases (NCDs).

In order to achieve the above objectives, a memorandum of understanding was signed in July 2019 between the WHO and the Ministry of AYUSH.

The M-Yoga project focused on four areas: Common yoga protocol for general wellness; yoga for mental health and resilience; yoga for adolescents; and yoga for pre-diabetics.

Building upon this, a requisite handbook and mobile applications were to be developed by the Morarji Desai National Institute of Yoga (MDNIY) in consultation with technology partners from the WHO.

The work on the handbook is in the final stages and the currently launched app is available in two of the six official languages -- English and Hindi.